photo: Bruce Lhuillier

A new Moon in Scorpio offers a gate, an entry, a lintel to a place we would rather postpone or avoid. What happens when we feel the energy of a doorway? How much do we dare to feel in times of deep and perhaps sudden transformation. Look through the gate in the photo above, and see that the space beyond is magical, but the entry is blocked by large stones. The access is difficult and what lies beyond may not feel entirely friendly. This time is a moment of challenge. It is a time of ending. Many planets in this chart are in late degree…..about to experience a change of element and mood.

In the United States, the spectre of political death plays out everywhere, leaving only stunned silence. To prevent further attacks, we are told to hire ‘armed guards.’ Yet clearly this is about a transformation which feels too difficult to bear by some. Many planets are in retrograde motion, the energy of reversal before new journeys can begin. The new Moon will follow election day. We vote for the future in the darkest hour of the Moon’s journey.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Before the new, we face the old….the fears that lurk in the entry way to new territory! The season of Halloween gives us that opportunity each year…to be terrified and then to laugh with relief as we see the phantom as an old bed sheet, and the demon as a trick of light. Whatever terrifies, also enlivens us! The heart beats faster and faster!

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

This particular new Moon in Scorpio is the astrological moment of Samhain (Halloween): 15 degrees of Scorpio! And the Sabian Symbol is: ‘ A girl’s face breaking into a smile’! Laughing… at Death? Smiling with the joy of understanding what lies behind the mask?

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Be prepared to go deep into the season of end and beginning, into the ‘Valley of the Shadow of Death.’ Feel the mossy walls of life renewal, the birch tree which grows into the stones with only one toe in life sustaining soil. Scorpio strips away ego, and leaves only the resource of ancestor and bone.

I wrote a poem about how this season feels to a tree…..

Going and Coming Sarah Fuhro

Hawk left my arms this morning,

My leaves sail away on their journey,

But Moon makes a promise:

Soon I will turn my face to you,

And we begin anew.

Hawk left my arms at dawn,

leaves sail away on their journey.

Moon makes a promise:

I will turn my face to you,

And we begin anew.

Bird, gone; leaves, gone; Moon turns her face,

and I am left with wind, and darkness.

My roots call Moon, call leaves, and bird

and, in the sweetest moment, they return.

Bird, gone; leaves, gone; Moon turns dark;

left with wind and earth, I call them back.

Keeping our Ancient Wisdom Alive

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. For an appointment call 508 652 9880 or email her at sarahfuhro@gmail.com. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

At the moment of the full Moon on Saturday, we stand before a door, which will open into an experience of deep examination. This is a moment of initiation into a new life perspective. What is our qualification to enter this portal and begin a journey? Neptune, the planet of waters will test us. He represents our guide into the depths of our work on the material and spiritual plane. Do we qualify to enter the door? Nothing in our culture prepares us for this step; this is the work of the cosmos in a dance with our planet’s soul.

photo: Sarah Fuhro

Ceres, the Earth Mother stands on the other side of the chart. in Leo. What is our responsibility to the planet, never mind the cosmos? She too will examine us before we enter the door and begin our membership in this new community. Like the figures in this petroglyph, which I saw in a desert canyon, we are dancers in a huge circle of interconnected life. Travel in the desert jolted me between the worlds of spirit and material forms. The full Moon in Taurus drags us into the vibration of this alternating current.

The symbols of plus and minus which decorate the magical door in the picture above tell us that balance is the way into this new world. Venus, who is the ruler of the Taurus full Moon is exactly opposite Uranus. planet of the the sudden change. Uranus is in a degree symbolized as ‘A man possessed of more gifts than he can hold.’ It is a warning about becoming overcome by consciousness of our own potential. When we come through a difficult transition and are faced with a new set of possibilities, there is a danger of falling into confusion.

photo: Sarah Fuhro

Scorpio, the sign of the Sun and Taurus, the sign of the Moon are both associated with sexuality, but two different kinds of sexuality. The Moon’s sign Taurus is about fertility and associated with the festival of Beltane (May Day) when babies are conceived and all the world is full of flowers and love. The Sun sign Scorpio is about the dark side of sexuality and its association with death. Mars, life force and sexuality rules this sign. It is sexuality with consequences. Samhain, (Hallowe’en) is celebrated in this sign. Death is recognized. The ancestors who journeyed before us are honored. Yet there is dark potential here as well as death. For this is the season of seeds, and next year’s Beltane is held in what can sometimes look like a shroud or a casket!

photo: Robert Fuhro

Keeping our Ancient Wisdom Alive

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present. To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.

Tuesday morning I went for an early morning walk to the woods near my house. I wanted to say good bye to the waning Moon. The full Moon in Aries had been so mad and electric for me, so filled with joy and sorrow that I needed a special look before she faded into total darkness.

As I watched the Virgo Moon, tangled in bare branches, three small hawks sailed over the pond where I was standing, Cooper hawks! It reminded me of a poem I wrote long ago:

The Wren Who Became a Hawk–Sarah Fuhro

I was the Wren

who became the hawk.

The winter months

know my flight

among the thorns.

Sought for the flame

I carry in my heart,

who sees me,

sees all.

The Hawk

comes from my nest…

plumage spread,

as a hawk,

I alight on a breeze,

fly high in a spiral

to the sun in the sky…

then plunge into

the cauldron,

where I emerge,

the wren, again.

I was thinking about the new Moon, which will be born on Saturday at 1:38 pm, and wondering what the gift of that Moon will be for all of us. Sun and Moon will reside at 07° of Scorpio. The Sabian Symbol for this degree promises a much needed rest from the fiery energy of Aries which has been with us since the full Moon:

A CALM LAKE BATHED IN MOONLIGHT. A quiet openness to higher inspiration..

The pond where I was walking was already coming into dawn, no moonlight left, only her image still visible in the growing brightness. The Moon was in her last few days before she goes into seclusion with the Sun….

Two degrees next door to Sun and Moon is Mercury, who is often configured as a hawk. Scorpio is connected to secrecy, Mercury is there to tell all, but in an esoteric, occult way, suitable to Scorpio’s mystery. In the season of Samhain, when all we turned upside down, and dark is light and light is dark, Mercury will tell us the secrets of this new Moon, but only if we are willing to listen in a new way.

A new Moon is a new beginning, and all new beginnings have certain dangers associated with them. The entry to a fort or a castle always has a guardian. It might be a dragon:

Or it might be a two-headed ominous figure who will question those who enter (Mercury in Scorpio)!!

As I left my forest walk I found a small key on the ground. It said ‘Gatehouse’ on it.

Later in the day, I received some beautiful photos of a gate to a chapel in Bretagne. An ancient yew tree guards the gate.

Yew has a very strange way of growing. The branches grow into the ground and form new stems. These become separate trees, yet they are connected underground. The original trunk grows old and decays, but a new tree grows inside.

The Yew represents reincarnation, the new year from the old year, Samhain, the new soul as it springs from ancient roots. The spiritual strength of the Yew is renewal, and connection, an explanation of immortality.

The Lunar nodes play an important part in this chart. They are square to Saturn and Venus at this moment of renewal. Ancient knowledge and the power of love are driving the energy of this new Moon. This seems to be another way of telling the story of the Yew. Yew is the fountainhead of youth in age, of age in youth. Saturn represents age, Venus youth, they are the chariot drivers for the Lunar nodes in Virgo and Pisces. Like Merlin and Nimue they hold the memory of the wisdom developed in other times, which is always ready to renew our spirits.

The Moon loves to inhabit Taurus! She is at her highest form of visible manifestation during the year, as she reflects the Sun in Scorpio. Taurus is a sign of value, and this Moon reminds us of our self worth and the knowledge that we too are here to shine in some way. Taurus is the playground of Venus, the planet of love, and wealth. What is value? What is the source of your wealth? What we value is the key to our happiness.

When we turn to the earth and sky for celebration, we dance to the rhythm of Taurus for this constellation celebrates the earth element, and the goddess who animates all earthy life. This is the perfect moment to fully appreciate our bodies, home to our spirits, and to sing songs to our home the earth. Dance under the light of this full Moon. Wherever you are, as she rises at sundown on Thursday night, and even in rain or snow, your body, sacred to her, will provide a pounding heart of gratitude if you listen to her song.

This is the Moon of Ngetal, the Reed. Reed provides homes for many, and music. There is the music of the wind in the reeds and the music that reeds provide as instruments. Reed grows in places where water and earth meet, just as the full Moon in Taurus is a meeting between the earth sign Taurus and the water sign, Scorpio. Ngetal Moon is about direction, and finding the way to our goal. The Reed bows where other may break, but is always a source of new life and action.

The Pleiades are also in Taurus. They mark the garlands on the Bull, and their appearance at sundown marks the season when we honor the Ancestors. For Druids, the rising and setting of the Seven Sisters is a reminder of two important holidays, Beltane and Samhain. Beltane is the celebration when this star cluster sets at sundown. It is the time of fertility and new growth. The Sun dwells in Taurus and smiles upon the earth as we celebrate Mother’s Day, and our mother planet. At Samhain as they rise with Taurus at sundown, we know it is the time of release, and the return to the earth, the mother, the celebration of death. The gates between the daylight world and the Otherworld are open to allow us to come and pass freely between life and death.

Like all full Moons we have this opportunity to integrate and weave opposite seasons and signs with very different impulses. This is what Moon has worked on during the last two weeks since she was embedded with the Sun in Scorpio. We learned about the deep exploration of Scorpio. I recently heard an interview with a therapist (Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk) who has developed a practice and a center devoted to trauma. The necessity to look at our wounds would be the Scorpio part of the healing process, but he has become more and more convinced that the body must be brought into the work he does. Trauma is embedded in the body, and that is where Taurus comes into the picture. Even as we attempt to ‘understand’ our sorrows, we must also learn to trust and reassure our body, and give it room for expression.

Looking at the chart for this particular full Moon in Taurus, we discover Saturn, Venus and the asteroid Pallas Athena are close to the Scorpio Sun. This suggests that work, love, and wisdom function best when we clear away old treasures. The Taurus Moon may resist this work of ruthless transformation. Yet Taurus is the cauldron where the alchemical process of Scorpio takes place. A meeting between Mars and Pluto, which becomes exact on November 10th has the potential for powerful energy release whether in destruction and/or construction of social and financial forms. Mars will then make a square to Uranus on November 12th. The impetus for truth telling with this combination is strong. Fortunately the power of healing represented by Chiron is in this mix (a sextile to the Moon and a trine to the Sun).

As always, I wish you a joyous celebration of this Moon in her full expression, Sarah

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present. To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.